


Connections

by tjs_whatnot



Category: The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Drabble, Family Dynamics, Gen, big bro feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 14:06:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2231811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tjs_whatnot/pseuds/tjs_whatnot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darry tries to find ways to be there for his brother, whether Ponyboy knows it or not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Connections

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Makioka](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Makioka/gifts).



> Makioka, I really loved your letter and prompt ideas so much and there were so many things I wished I could have done with them, but with short notice, this was the only one I thought ready for public consumption.
> 
> Completely done on the fly without beta reading. Apologies for errors.

Darrel Curtis put the truck in park, turned off the ignition and sat in the parking lot of the high school, working up the nerve to get out. He tried not to remember all the times when he’d bound to that field, when the crowd had been there to see him, where he had been a star full of promise and unlimited potential. 

He sighed and got out of the truck. This wasn’t about him, not anymore. He made his way to the far corner of the field, where he was sure not to be seen, not by any of the few spectators and more importantly, not by any of the athletes. He didn’t know how he would explain his presence to Ponyboy if he ever saw Darry at any of his meets, and Darry’s been to them all. 

At first he went because it was something that parents did and Darry was more concerned about Ponyboy’s lack of parents than his own or even Sodapop’s. Through the years though, it stopped being about duty and started being something that Darry had been very reluctant to call pride. Pride and something he was even more awed to acknowledge--a connection. 

Seeing Ponyboy with his tall, lanky frame that would have him snapped like a twig on the football field, but fit right in on the race track reminded Darry that his brother was an athlete. Seeing Ponyboy run past him with no eyes for anything but the finish line, no thought for anything but the intake and release of air in his lungs reminded Darry that his brother had dedication and drive.

There on the track, that connection, that pride, it was enough and nothing else mattered.


End file.
